Located at the head of Tokyo Bay, Tokyo is part of the Kantō region on the central coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island. Tokyo serves as Japan's economic center and the seat of both the Japanese government and the Emperor of Japan. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government administers Tokyo's central 23 special wards (which formerly made up Tokyo City), various commuter towns and suburbs in its western area, and two outlying island chains known as the Tokyo Islands. Despite most of the world knowing Tokyo as a city, since 1943 its governing structure has been more akin to a prefecture, with an accompanying Governor and Assembly taking precedence over the smaller municipal governments which make up the metropolis.
Prior to the 17th century, Tokyo was predominantly a fishing village and was named Edo. In 1603, however, the city ascended to political prominence after being named the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate. By the mid-18th century, Edo emerged as one of the world's most-populous cities with a population of over one million people. Following the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the imperial capital in Kyoto was moved to Edo, and the city was renamed Tokyo (lit.'Eastern Capital'). In 1923, Tokyo was damaged substantially by the Great Kantō earthquake, and the city was later badly damaged by allied bombing raids during World War II in retaliation for Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Beginning in the mid-20th century, Tokyo underwent rapid reconstruction and expansion that contributed to the era's so-called Japanese economic miracle in which Japan's economy propelled to the second-largest in the world behind that of the United States. Tokyo is also part of an industrial region that spans from Yokohama and Kawasaki to Chiba. , the city is home to 29 of the world's largest 500 companies listed in the annual Fortune Global 500. (Full article...)
Tokyo is the most populated of Japan's 47 prefectures. In Tokyo, there are 53 buildings and structures that stand taller than 187 metres (614 feet). The tallest structure in the prefecture is Tokyo Skytree, a lattice tower that rises 634 metres (2,080 feet), which was completed in 2012. It also stands as the tallest structure in Japan, the tallest tower in the world and the third-tallest freestanding structure in the world. The tallest building and third-tallest overall structure in Tokyo is the 325.2-metre-tall Azabudai Hills Mori JP Tower in the Azabudai Hills development, completed in 2023 and being Tokyo's only supertall skyscraper. The second-tallest building is the 265-metre-tall (869 ft) Toranomon Hills Station Tower in the Toranomon Hills complex, which was completed in 2023. The prefecture's third-tallest building is the Toranomon Hills Mori Tower, which rises 52 storeys and 255 metres (837 feet) in height. Overall, as of October 2023, of the 25 tallest buildings and structures in Japan, 17 are in Tokyo.
Skyscrapers are a relatively recent phenomenon in Japan. Due to aesthetic and engineering concerns, Japan's Building Standard Law set an absolute height limit of 31 metres until 1963, when the limit was abolished in favor of a floor area ratio limit. Following these changes in building regulations, the Kasumigaseki Building was constructed and completed in 1968. Double the height of Japan's previous tallest building—the 17-story Hotel New Otani Tokyo—the Kasumigaseki Building is regarded as Japan's first modern high-rise building, rising 36 stories and 156 metres (512 feet) in height. A booming post-war Japanese economy and the hosting of the 1964 Summer Olympics helped lead to a building boom in Tokyo during the 1960s and 1970s. Construction continued through the 1980s and 1990s as the Japanese asset price bubble rose and fell. Mainland Tokyo is divided into two sections: Western Tokyo and the special wards of Tokyo. All of the prefecture's tallest buildings are within the 23 special wards, which comprise the area formerly incorporated as Tokyo City. Nishi-Shinjuku, a district within Shinjuku, was the prefecture's first major skyscraper development area. Starting with the construction of the Keio Plaza Hotel in the 1971, the district is now home to 13 of Tokyo's 46 tallest skyscrapers. (Full article...)
Shiodome (汐留) is an area in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, located adjacent to Shinbashi and Ginza, near Tokyo Bay and the Hamarikyu Gardens. Formerly a railway terminal, Shiodome has been transformed into one of Tokyo's most modern areas. It is a collection of 11 tiny town districts or cooperative zones, but generally there are three main areas: Pictured are the skyscrapers of Shiodome in Minato Ward.
Image 36The five-story pagoda of Kan'ei-ji, which was constructed during the reign of Tokugawa Hidetada and required the building of the Kimon (Devil's Gate) (from History of Tokyo)
Image 37This marker in Nihonbashi is the place from which distances along highways are reckoned. (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 38A Tokyo taxi driver indicating a fare of 50 Sen by holding up five fingers, in 1932 (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 42Picture of the Upper Class, a c. 1794–1795 painting by Utamaro. The woman on the left is lower in class than the woman on the right, who wears more colorful clothes (from History of Tokyo)
Image 56A social hierarchy chart based on old academic theories. Such hierarchical diagrams were removed from Japanese textbooks after various studies in the 1990s revealed that peasants, craftsmen, and merchants were in fact equal and merely social categories. Successive shoguns held the highest or near-highest court ranks, higher than most court nobles. (from History of Tokyo)
... that pianist Fujita Haruko, one of the first 19 female students enrolled at the University of Tokyo, was taught by Leo Sirota, who was once called the "god of piano"?
... that Allen Ravenstine, who used a synthesizer to emulate the sound of an airplane's engine on "30 Seconds Over Tokyo", later became an airline pilot?
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